GreenFort chooses South Brisbane for maiden BTR project
Investment manager GreenFort Capital, in a new partnership with Canada’s BentallGreenOak and Partners Group, of Switzerland, has entered the Australian Build to Rent space with the c$20 million purchase of a South Brisbane site.
The low rise warehouse on a 2309 square metre Principal Centre zoned block at 2 Cordelia Street was offloaded by Melbourne based Accord Property Group which also outlaid $20m, in 2016, then won approval to build a 30 storey tower – which GreenFort will now complete.
About 209 of the proposed 379 apartments are designed with one bedroom.
Some 489 car parks also form part of the Cottee Parker Architects design.
Upon completion the units will be managed via a platform called Canvas, established by GreenFort directors Adam Vaggelas and Nick Singleton.
Up to 1500 units planned
The GreenFort partnership intends to develop and manage between 1200 and 1500 Australian apartments; it will only invest in the east coast capitals.
“Australia’s low housing vacancy rates, limited new apartment supply and lack of institutional grade residential stock presented a significant opportunity,” Mr Vaggelas said.
“Australia has one of the highest rates of urbanisation and population growth and one of the lowest residential vacancy rates in the developed world,” he added.
“These trends, together with increasing housing affordability constraints, present a compelling opportunity to deliver quality and professionally managed apartment stock to urban locations,” according to the executive (story continues below).
BGO manages US$70 billion of assets – the South Brisbane property is its maiden local acquisition.
Partners Group by comparison controls US$127b; it has been co-invested in Australian infrastructure investment since c2015.
Cushman & Wakefield’s Michael Gard and Andrew Gard represented Accord.
Sector becoming crowded
The deal comes a day after we reported Altis Capital and Aware Super paid $14.04m for a Preston, Melbourne paint shop with plans for an 18 level BTR tower.
The same partnership last year outlaid c$70m for the ex-Bayview on the Park hotel, opposite Albert Park Lake, with intentions to develop an asset of this type too.
Also competing in this space, in the Victorian capital, are Assemble/Make Ventures, Grocon, Gurner, Mirvac, Qualitas, Samma Property Group and Suleman Property Group.
GIC, Greystar, Hines and Investa, backed by Oxford, are amongst the international groups building Melbourne BTR product.
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